Can-fork or can-lifter.



PATBNTED APE: 2l, 1008.

R. M. BREGKENRDGB. GAN FORK 0R GAN LIFTER.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 24. 1906.

ROELIFF IBIIOR'IONr BRECKENRIDGE, OF HAMILTON,'ONTARIO, CANDA.

CAN-FORK OR CAN-LIFTER.

ne. scanso.

specincaeion of Letters raient. Application med February 24, isos. serial No. ceases.

` Patented April 21, 190s.

Zitallwhontt concern. l

Berit known t at I, RaLIFF Mon'roN -Blncxmmem a 'citizen of the United States, residing at the city of Hamilton, in

' the count of Wentworth and `Province of ontario, (canada, have invented a new andr Appliance-for Use inTin-Can Factories, w c

'-1 n cylindrical tin cans arein courseo manufacture in a tin-can factory, they are transferred from one machine or operation to.

another by rolling on their peripheries by vforce of gravity-or otherwise -down on along chutes or runwaysv on which the cans automatically arrange themselves side by side and in contact one with another.

lit-frequently'happens in the manufacture,

warehousing or shipping of cans `that it is (le-f sirableor necessary to shift the cans from one, chute or place to another place, and to arrange them there in orderly' com act piles 'or'rws. This has been ordinarily one heref and lift `from-one place to another at most -four cans of ordinary dimensions; in the act of grasping the cans between his ngershe necessarily bunches them, as illustrated `inlthe drawingshereinafter referred to, and

- `fcannot keep them in a horizontal line side by side as they w'ere Aonthe chute or place from hich they were taken-,and as they should placed on the place'to'which they are being' transferred. .And to prevent .injur to the hands of the'worlmian -from the s arp l edges of the cans, it'isnecessary either that he shall be supplied with gloves, which are a constant source of expense, or that he shall be unusually careful 'and deliberate in his movements when `taking hold of the cans with hishand.

My invention enables a` workman to remove from. one chute ,onplace and arrange on another place a much larger number of cans in the same time and with no greater exertion than. is now practicable, and dispenses with the necessity of providing the workman with gloves.

By the use of m invention he can take up with one hand eiglit or more cans at atime,

appliance may be called a can-forkf oli-"canfhfter, and of which the following is a s 'ificatiom and, as the cans are carried on the llifter in vthe same relative position with regardy to each other as they occhpiedon 'the chute from which they have been removed, the can be placed on the chute or place to Whic they are being transferred in that same' posi-l tion without any expenditure of time in re'- arranging thein,`as is necessary where my invention is not used.

I attain'these objects b the device or zipliance. illustratedin te accompanying rawing, in which Figure 1 is a plan of the` can lifter, 2 is an enlarged sectional plan of part of the can lifter, Fig. 3- is a sectional end elevation of the can lifter, through the handle, Fig. 4" is areduced perspective elevation of part of the can lifter showing the cans in lposition on the lifter when the latter is being used, Fig. 5 is an elevation of a grou 'of cans in the bunched position whic they necessarily assume when being lifted by hand without the use of my/invention.

Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several vieWs:

The appliance may be sim )ly described'as a fork, consisting of a han e "A", crosspiece 'B" fastened -to such handle, and mgers or tines "C" securely fastened to the cross-pieceand projecting therefrom in the4 same plane as, but on the op osite side of the cross-piece from, the hand e, as shown in he appliance should be light but strong, and I'have found the mostserviceable and economical material for its construction to be light iron o1' steel tubing, the handle and cross-piece being of a diameter of about an' with an expander that part ofthe tine which is within the circumference ofthe cross-piece, and upsetting or rivetmg the end of the tine which is made to project slightl through the cross-piece on the handle side ,t ereof.

It is essential that the tines be equi-dis- -`tant one from the other, the distance orspace from the middlerline of one tine to the midl .dle line ofthe next one. vadjacent being a proximately the diameter of the cans, for t ev yandling of'whicb. thflifterg is,v intended.

This insures that the cans,4 when taken up on l the same plane, but if it is desiredvto oon- 35 the'liter, shallbe in slight Contact olewith theothenas they were on the chute'or place from Whichthe Werelifted, andmakes it almost imllgossib e that any one or more ofthe cans sha1 be aceidentall ,prematurely dis- ,lodged froiii the lifter. yt lspalso important (that the length of the tines from the' extrenrl ity IfCwyto the point of junction with the ieceshall be considerably more than t. something less than the whole fthe can. lf the tineswere in 'lengthual'to'on ,eaterthanthe depth of theoans,

-therewoil .be ajoonstant riskof injury to cm-whclwere olosed atlone end, by the jipontpfftheftine, inthe act of being thrust y, the can; coming in Contact with the chased end of the can and denting it.

lf the 'times are not considerably longer than half the depth of the cans, the'cens on' them would be in a state of instability Aand apt to fall oil. It follows that different sizes of litters will be necessary for using with different sizesof C3118.' l'I number; the larger the number the more belifted on it at a time. There would be very little 'economical gain in. a Iifte1j-witl1 not more than four tines, as four oansfcanbelifted at one time by hend; l have found eight tines a enerall convenient number, but ten or, tWe ve ruig t not make' the tool unwieldy. 'v

It is generallyl most on'venient that vthe handleend tines or prongs should be in of the handle. I A .I

I find that a generally suitable and eonhe. tines may be env priwtioablev struct alifter to be used especially for transferring cans from or to places higher than the ordinary reach of. the operator, the tines may be set at a convenient angle (not bein less than a right angle) to the longitudine line venient length for the handle is from twelve to iifteeninolies. vT he length of the crosspiece will be ra lated by the number of tines or prongs, ann. the distance between them. In order to prevent the lifterhaving a tendeney to turn in the hand ofthe person using it, the handle should join the cross-piece in the middle .of its length and the tines should be so spaced that there is an equal number of theni on each arm of the orossieee, the

"distance between the Center of vt` e cross` -piece and the nearest tine lon each side of the A fork for'lifting hollenr cylindrical bodies comprising a handle, a hollow cross-piece attached thereto, a series of hollow tines passing transversely through the l cross-piece,- the portion of the tines between the inner Walls oi the cross-piece being expanded lit# erally, whereby they are securely held from longltudinal movement in the cross-piece. ROELIFF NORTON BRECKENRIDGE. IlV'itnesses:

PETER DUNCAN CRERAR, AUGUSTUS SCHWARZ. 

